Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands



Patented Mar. 7, 1944 MECHANISM FOR TWISTING TOGETHER A l PLURALITY F STRANDS Robert J. Clarkson, Hogansville, Ga., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 9, 1943, Serial No. 490,172

7 Claims. (Cl. 57-58) This invention `relates to mechanism for twisting together a plurality of yarns, threads or strands so as to form a plied construction without changing appreciably the twist of the individual strands about their respective axes, and

more particularly to tension means for control` ling the tension of the individual strands as they are plied together.

`The mechanism herein contemplated may be employed to wrap one strand about another so that one forms the core and the other the cover, or it may be employed to twist two strands together so as to form a plied and twisted con` struction,

Itis found in practice that if the mechanism herein contemplated is employed to manufacture a plied construction, it is necessary to control with a high degree of accuracyv thetension of the individual strands as they are plied together, because if one strandis subjected to a greater tension than the other the strand under the greater tension will assume the position of a core and the other strand will be `wrapped thereupon as a cover, instead of producing the desired plied construction. t

A primary feature of the'present invention, therefore, resides in twisting mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands without changing appreciably the twist of the individual strands about their respective axes, and in tension means associated therewith and adapted to be actuated by the tension of one strand to vary the tension of the other strand 'to thereby equalize the tension upon the strands as they are plied together.

A more specific feature of the present invention resides in twistlngmechanism including a re volving spindle adapted .to revolve a balloon of one strand about the supply package for another strand so as to twist thestrands together into a'plied construction without changing appreciably the twistof the individual strands about their respective axes, and in tension means asso'- ciated therewith and operable to displace each strand-from a straight to a serpentine path so that as *the displacement of one strand .decreas'esf'the other increases to equalize the tensionupon both strands. t v

, Another yfeature ofthe present inventori resides.'in A mechanism for` twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied constructionwithout changing appreciably theztwistZof the' individuall strands `about `their respective axes. andcomprlsing a hollow-.twisting spindle adapted tofsupport` one let-olf package without rotating the same and so that`the strand may be pulled endwise from this package and then advanced axially through the package and the spindle to the twisting point where it is plied with another strand to form the plied construction.

The above and other features of the present invention and novel combination of parts will be further understood from the following de scrption when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a schematic side elevation with parts in section of twisting mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig.'3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;v and, v n

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

The twisting mechanism of the present invention has been designed to twisttogether yarns, threads or strands by forming a balloon in one strand and revolving this balloon about the letoti package of another strand to twist the strands together at a point intermediate their ends, without similarly rotating the let-off packages for the strands or the take-up package for the plied construction. The effect of this is to ply the strands together without altering appreciably the manufacturing twist of the individual strands.

Twisting mechanism embodying this general y construction may be employed to ply together more than two strands by revolving the balloon around a plurality of let-off packages, and various types of packages or spools may be employed as the let-off packages. The construction shown in the drawing, however, is designed to ply together only two strands.

In Fig. l of the drawing there is shown what is termed the rstl let-oil"V package I0 and the second let-olf package II. Both of these packages preferably have the conical construction shown so that the strand I2 may be withdrawn endwise from the package I0 and the strand I3 4 may be withdrawn endwise from the package Il without the necessity of rotating these packages as the`strands are unwound therefrom.A

Thepackage I0 is mounted on a supporting cone Il that is supported by the shaft I5 extending laterallyA from' the frame or upright I6. Thev strand I2 upon being unwound from its package in passes through a pigtail guide I'I disposed on the central axis through the package I0 but at some distance from the package, and this guide is supported by a bracket Il.

The strand I2 passes from the pigtail guide I1 through an opening Il at one end of a ilierarm 2l that is rigidLv secured to the hollow twisting spindle 2|, and extending opposite from the arm 22 is the counter balancing arm 22. The twisting spindle 2| is rotatably supported by themachine frame or bracket22 and is adapted to be driven by the whorl 24 and belt 25. The strand I2 after passing through the opening I3 travels along the arm 2l to the hollow spindle 2| and then through the hole 26 into this hollow shaft and lengthwise therein in a righthand direction.

The second let-oil' Dckage II is shown as mounted upon a cone 21 which is supported by the hollow shaft 22, and this shaft is non-rotatably supported by the rotating spindle 2| through the ball bearings 23 consisting of the inner rings rigidly secured to a projecting end of the revolving spindle 2l and the outer rings tightly fitted within the casing 22 secured to the shaft 28. This ball bearing construction permits the hollow twisting spindle 2I`to be rotated without rotat ing the spindle 22 which it supports, and in order to prevent the small amount of friction which may be imparted from the rotating spindle 2| to the spindle 22 from turning the latter, a weight such as 2| may be rigidly secured to the casing 32 to hang downwardly therefrom in a vertical direction and has at its outer end the projection 22 positioned to clear the full package I.

In the construction shown the package II is supported so that its smaller end faces the smaller end of the first package Il. and the construction is preferably such that the strand which is unwound from the package II may be pulled endwise therefrom and then advanced axially through this package within the hollow supporting shaft 22. To accomplish this and at the same time prevent the unwinding strand from dragging unduly upon the smaller end of the conical package a fairly long tubular guide 33 is provided the inner end of which fits telescopically within the hollow tube 23. 'I'he outer end of this tubular guide has the enlarged beaded portion 34 over which the strand I2 may slide freely as it passes into the tube 22.

The purpose in mounting this guide 33 telescopically within the outer end of the shaft 23 is to permit the guide 23 to be removed when a package is to be changed.

When the twisting spindle 2I is rotated rapidly a portion of the strand I2 extending from the pigtail I1 to the arm 22 will balloon as shown in full lines above the package II and in dot and dash lines below the package. This will subject the strand I2 to a greater tension than that placed upon the non-rotating strand I2 as it passes to the guiding tube 33. Therefore, in order e to increase the tension upon the strand I3 to subject it to somewhere near the tension that is placed upon the strand I2, the strand I2 after it enters the tubular guide 23 is preferably passed outwardly through a hole in the tube and wound about the tube one or more times as at 25 and then passed into the tube through a second hole, whereupon the strand I2 passes lengthwisewithin the hollow non-rotating support 23 and the hollow rotating spindle 2 I.

As above stated the mechanism herein contemplated will not twist the strands together symmetrically to produce the desired plied construction unless the tension upon the different strands is equal or nearly equal. The mechanism so far described will serve to place upon the strand I2 a tension which somewhat approximates that of the strand I2 but will not control the tension upon the strands with the desired degree of accuracy. Therefore, an extremely important feature of the present invention resides in the ten sion mechanism which will now be described whereby the tension to which one strand is subjected serves to control the tension to which the other strand is subject to equalize the tension upon the strands as they are plied together.

. This isaccomplished in the construction shown by providing at the righthand end of the rotating'spindle 2| the casing 26 which is rigidly secured tothe spindle 2| to rotate therewith, and inside this Vcasing is provided a row of pins 31 which project inwardly in a radial direction from the inner wall of the casing 36 and a second row of pins 38 that are disposed diametrically opposite to the pins 31 and extend inwardly from the inner wall of the casing. Within the casing 36 there is also mounted the longitudinally extending and centrally disposed shaft 39, one end of which is journaled in the outer wall of the casing 36 and the other end is journaled in the bridge member 40 rigidly secured at the inner end of the casing 36. Upon this pivotally mounted shaft 39 are mounted the discs 4|, three being shown, as disposed between the longitudinally spaced pins 31 and 38.

Within each of the discs 4| are Provided two or more holes 42 through which 'the strands I2 and I3 may extend as shown. The arrangement is such that each strand is led through selected holes 42 and about the pins 31 or 38 so that they will take the serpentine path shown in Fig. 3. The tension to which a strand is subject may be varied by threading the `same through the holes 42 that lie different distances from the pins, and since the discs are rotatably supported by the shaft 39 they will rotate as the tension upon a particular yarn increases to decrease the serpentine path for that yarn and increase the serpentine path for the other yarn. The effect of this is to decrease the-retarding action to which one strand is subjected and increase the retarding action to which the otherstrand is subjected and thereby equalize the tension upon the strands as they are plied together.

The strands I2 and I3 pass through holes 43 in the bridge member 40 as they enter the casing 26 and pass through holes 44 as they leave this casing, and as they pass out of the holes 44 the rotation of the spindle 2| and the casing 26 plies the yarns together as at 45 adjacent the guide chuck 46 which is supported by the bracket 41. The plied construction thus formed is pulled forward through the chuck 46 by any suitable means such as the spaced` pull rolls 48 and 49. One of these rolls is positively driven andboth rolls are provided with spaced annular grooves about which the plied yarn 45 is wound in a plurality of runs to keep the yarn from slipping upon the rolls. The roll not positively driven will be rotated by the belt-like action of the yarn runs passing from one roll to the other. The pulling action of the rolls 48 and 49 serves to draw the yarns I2 and I3 forward from their supply packages I0 and II. The yarn 45 may pass from these pull rolls to a take-up package, not

shown.

The tension device shown in Figsj2, l3l and 4 is adapted to accommodate only two strandsbut a somewhat similar tension Vdevice adapted teaci comodate three strands could be provided by proshown. In such a construction a high tension exerted upon any one of the three strands would tend to reduce the serpentine path of this strand and shift the position of the discs 4i to increase the tension upon the other two strands, and this would tend to equalize the tension upon all three strands.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by employing twisting mechanism such as herein contemplated a plurality of strands may be twisted together to form a plied construction without altering the manufacturing twist of the individual strands forming such plied construction, except l possibly for the slight change produced in the twists of the individual strands due to the stretching of these strands during the plying op. eration.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim andy desire to protect by Letters Patent is: l.. Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied construction without changing appreciably the twist of the in dividual strands about their respective axes, com-- prising a iirst let-oli package and a second letoif package, a revolving spindle operable to rotate a balloonvof the strand from the rst package about the second package and twist the strands together into said plied construction, means forl pulling the strands forward, and tension means actuated by the tension of one strand to vary the tension of the other strand so as to equalize the tension upon the two strands.

y2. Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied construction without changing appreciably the twist of the individual strands .about their respective axes, comprising a rst let-o! package, a twisting spindle, a second let-oil package supported by said spindle without being rotated thereby, means for rotating said spindle to thereby revolve a balloon of a strand from the rst package about the second package and twist the strands together into said plied construction, means for pulling the strands forward, and tension means actuated by the tension of one strand to vary the tension of the other strand.

3. Mechanism for twisting together plurality spective axes, meansl for pulling the strands through said spindle, and tension means actu.

ated by the tension of one strand to vary the tension of the other strand.

4. Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied construction, comprising a. iirst let-oir package, a twisting spindle, a second let-off package supported upon the axis of said spindle so that the strand from this package may be pulld axially through the package and spindle, means for rotating said spindle to revolve a balloon of a strand from the first package about the second package and twist the strands together into said plied construction, means for pulling the strands forward, and tension means actuated by the tension of one strand to vary the tension of the other strand.

5. Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied construction, i

comprising a iirst let-oil package and a second let-oil' package, a revolvingV spindle that rotates independently of both of said packages to revolve a balloon of a strand of one package about the other package and twist the strands together about a common axis without changing appreciably the twist of the individual strands about their respective axes, means for advancing the strands, and tension means actuated by the tensionof either strand to vary the tension of the other strand.

6. Mechanism for twisting together a plurality of strands so as to form a plied construction without changing appreciably the twist oi the individual strands about their respective axes, comprising a first let-of! package and a second let-ofi package, a revolving hollow spindle operable to rotate a balloon of a strand from one package about the other package and twist the strands to-- without changing appreciably the twist of the individual strands about their respective axes,

comprising a first let-oil package and a second let-of! package, a revolving spindle operable to rotate a balloon of the strand from the ilrst package about the second package and twist the strands together into said plied construction, means for pulling the strands forward, and pivoted tension means adapted to displace each strand from a straight to a serpentine path and/- operable so that as the displacement of one strand decreases the other increases to thereby equalize the tension upon both strands.

ROBERT J. CLARKSON. 

